turtledovefandomcom-20200216-history
Linda Staley
|birth = |parents = Bill and Marian Staley, Fayvl Tabakman (stepfather) |family = Unnamed half sibling (b. 1953) |occupation = }}Linda Staley (b. 1946) was the daughter of Bill and Marian Staley. She was just a child when the Korean War spiraled out of control and became World War III. In the early morning hours of March 2, a Soviet bomber, in an audacious raid, dropped an atomic bomb between Seattle and Everett. Marian and Linda survived the blast. Their house was destroyed, but they took shelter in the car and fled.Bombs Away., pgs. 147-150. The Staleys made their way to a refugee camp (officially Seattle-Everett Refugee Encampment Number Three, more popularly known as "Camp Nowhere").Ibid., pg. 325. They continued to live in the Studebaker rather than in the tents the National Guard provided. The flash burns they'd received healed cleanly, and they didn't show any other symptoms of radiation sickness. Other people weren't so lucky; mass graves filled up regularly.Ibid., pgs. 172-174. After several days in the camp, they ran into their cobbler, Fayvl Tabakman, who introduced the Staleys to friends of his, Yitzkhak and Moishe.Ibid., pg. 175. The Staleys became relatively close to Tabakman and his friends, eating meals with them, and discussing their past. Marian came to realize just how lucky she'd been up til now.Ibid., pgs. 231-235. About six weeks after the destruction of Seattle, Marian, Linda, and Tabakman went back to the Staley's car/home, and found a teenager, Daniel Philip Jaspers, trying to break in. When he charged at them, Tabakman picked up and rock and threw it, hitting the teenager squarely in the nose, knocking him out. Before Marian went to find a Guardsman, she asked how Tabakman learned to throw like that. He replied with grenades.Ibid., pgs. 234-235. Jaspers was taken into custody, and Marian made a point of watching out for him for a time, but her husband's status became more important. She also wondered whether she should leave the camp and find work. Still, as she talked to Tabakman and learned of his personal history, she realized her situation wasn't as bad as it could have been.Ibid., pg. 324-325. Unfortunately, in May, Bill was killed when his bomber was shot down over the Soviet Union, leaving Marian completely uncertain what to do next.Ibid., pgs. 376-380. For the remainder of the month, Marian wandered about in a fog. She made sure Linda went to the kindergarten the camp had established on school days, but frequently meandered around the camp until school let out. She grew closer to Fayvl Tabakman, since he had some understanding of what she was going through, both in his capacity as a fellow refugee, and as a Holocaust survivor.Ibid., pgs. 406-410.Fallout, loc. 534-593, e-book. In July, he even suggested that he, Marian, and Linda go to a movie. Marian accepted his offer. However, plans changed when she learned that she was receiving a $15,000 pay out from Bill's life insurance policy, more than enough for her and Linda to leave the camp and start over.Ibid., loc. 1476-1536. A few days later, after a quick good-bye party with Tabakman and his friends, Marian and Linda left the camp and headed south.Ibid., loc. 2228-2288. They drove south until they came to a town called Weed, in the shadow of Mt. Shasta. While they ate, Marian inquired about work, and was told by a waitress that the local lumber companies were looking for secretaries. After securing a place at a motor court, Marian decided to give Weed a go.Ibid., loc. 3292-3304. In short order, she became a secretary at the Shasta Lumber Corporation, rented a house, and enrolled Lina in school.Ibid., loc. 3587. After they were settled in, Marian sent a postcard to Fayvl Tabakman to let him know where she and Linda had wound up.Ibid., loc. 3633-3646. References